A Message from the FINAL FANTASY XI Development Team (12/10/2010)

[Aristio]

Also, the storyline was a fucking travesty. I've read better Harry Potter fanfiction.

Pretty sure the focus was entirely on battles for these add-ons, while story was the focus on the previous three. You can't go into a bike shop and expect to buy a car can you?

[Spira]

If you find it fun to spend hours in reskinned zones grinding, through a system that's been only superficially altered in the 3 times they've copy-pasted it, for upgrades that are completely unnecessary because nothing is difficult enough to warrant them, for the sole purpose of being able to jack off to your WS numbers you are a moron and should enjoy the crap that is Abyssea. It's like WoW minus the PvP and instances.

welcome to MMORPGs

[EdgeMoragan]

I'll admit I'm edgy about the changes going on within 11. But I am just so glad to see those bastards get the stick after single handedly making 11 way worse than it could have been without them for 8 god damn years. Cop was challenging and fun yes, I stuck through it- while watching 1/3rd of my friendlist quit because of the existence of promys, mammets, ouryu, airship battle, etc etc. Denying that people quit often because of harsh/cockblock content is madness, and Absolute Virtue and PW were so bad that we got a news spot and they still didn't change for the complete better after that humiliation. Seeing these guys get slapped over in 14 is like delicious candy, covered in bacon bits.

[ryskar]

Abyssea has a story?

From my understanding it's: "Here kids, have a bunch of repainted zones with popped NMs, short-time spawns, amazing items and exp camps galore. Have fun!"

[ringthree]

Because +1 and +2 upgrade items arent a crapshoot.

They are about a thousand times less of a crap shoot than absolutely anything in this game prior to Abyssea. If you don't suck and you want a +1 piece, you can take 3-4 friends to an Abyssea zone and in less than 2 hours have your completed piece. If you are incapable of doing this then go play WoW or something.

[ringthree]

welcome to MMORPGs

LOL This is almost verbatim what I was thinking.

[ronin sparthos]

Here we go again....

For everyone who continues to harp on about Abyssea being the plague that ruined FFXI... get over it. Abyssea has been the best thing to happen to XI and if SE had chosen this path instead of driving the game into the ground after TOAU we'd all be playing (and paying for) a better MMO.

Yes, I miss the nostalgia as much as the next guy but really... those rose-tinted glasses are showing on some people.

CoP was the best overall storyline (lolstoryline) SE put out but the overall state of the game at that point in time was shit compared to what we have today. I guess I don't miss coming home from class, logging in, LFPing multiple hours all for the one PT invite where I lose EXP because the specific PT (no PLD? Im outta here) cant kill some IT++ goblins. Yeah man, that was FFXI at it's best - the COP era.

XI has had its ups and downs but pointing to the CoP era as if it were some golden age within the game only makes Abyssea seem that much better. Yes, Abyssea has irreversibly changed things but these changes were needed years ago. Also, the direction the game takes after Abyssea will truely determine if this SE team is moving in a new direction.

I miss Assaults and other large scale events like Besieged/Campaign but seeing Kings, Dynamis and Colibri camp dying brings a smile to my face. Progress has finally come to this game.

[Isiolia]

The basic problem with Abyssea is that all the big changes it brings to the game are limited to Abyssea. Had the scope of it been larger, coupled with updates to the entire game to accomodate, I doubt you'd see people complaining. It's basically like they decided that it'd be too much work to do that...so here's a little bubble of revised FFXI for you. In and of itself? Spectacular. In the context of basically being a game-within-a-game...not so much.

[ryskar]

CoP was the best overall storyline

I honestly didn't like the CoP story. Prishe is fucking irritating. Ulmia's sole purpose of existance was to harp about how amazing Prishe is. The Chibukkis are fucking irritating and could pass as the spokesmen for the Scrappy trope. I've recently redone CoP on a new character, honestly I think the rose-tinted glasses apply here quite a bit themselves. The whole ladder of events isn't as glorious as we remember it being several years ago, trust me.

Thought WotG (especially the Windurst path) did much better in that department, though I'm no fan of Lillisette and her dance troupe groupies either. The whole theme of desperation in WotG is just awesome, makes for a much more driving story. Not that it matters, not everyone cares about story (which is fine), and the rewards aren't exactly jawdropping.

[GreenKnux]

If you find it fun to spend hours in reskinned zones grinding, through a system that's been only superficially altered in the 3 times they've copy-pasted it, for upgrades that are completely unnecessary because nothing is difficult enough to warrant them, for the sole purpose of being able to jack off to your WS numbers you are a moron and should enjoy the crap that is Abyssea. It's like WoW minus the PvP and instances.

I can't decide if you are a troll or neckbeard.

[Priran]

Right, I'm the neckbeard because I saw a grindfest for what it was and stopped playing. Good game, champ.

welcome to MMORPGs

This is what people who've never played an enjoyable MMO actually believe

[miokomioko]

I'm going to agree about Abyssea. It was kinda' fun to get crazy exp for the first couple times... but then it becomes obvious they are just pushing out faux content in the form of omg level caps rising, omg gear you can only get by killing the same fucking mob 5,000 times in rainy weather. Then what? CoP + ToAU were the golden years. New areas, lots of story, challenging battles, fun stuff.

Olive Garden breadsticks are fucking delicious... until you've had about a dozen of them and you realize you can't just live off of breadsticks.

I hope the guy heading XI tries to add something with actual sustainance, instead of just putting more miles at the end of the road. (However, it looks like that's enough for a lot of people)

[Juxtaposition]

You think you're having fun with this game? Heh. Please.

[Nightfyre]

This is what people who've never played an enjoyable MMO actually believe

Such as, and why?

[Hyan]

I'm going to agree about Abyssea.

Me too. May be fun once or twice, but do it enough and it gets bland. "New" content is simply new 3 sets of Abyssea zones, maybe an altered mini-Campaign system and lots of phat lewt.

It certainly reminds me of the usual MMO trend of focusing on instances raids instances raids year after another.

Had this been happening since 2005 I doubt I would have stayed in the game as long as I did. It's probably a good thing to do at the "end" of the game because who the hell cares anymore at this point anyway?

[Priran]

Such as, and why?

An example would be Lineage II. Instances and raid bosses are fun, well-designed, and unique, and give gear whose purpose is more than just to make PvE easier for people who are already good at PvE, but also fuel a PvP arms race where you can gear yourself and your clan out, take someone's castle, and then need to keep doing PvE to keep from getting the same done to you.

Contrast FFXI where the only point of PvE is to get better gear so you can PvE more efficiently. And post epeen screenshots. zzz

[Malacite]

Oh so they demoted Komoto too... ouch.

Well, that's what happens when you fuck up.

[Rena]

Are people really complaining about Abyssea getting old too soon, when it's targeted at levels significantly lower than the final level cap? Look at it as temporary content designed to entertain us on the way to 99, not something you'll be doing half a decade later like some did Dynamis or Limbus.

With the level cap rising every three months, content will inevitably become outdated, worry more about what we will have at 99 (hint: we don't know at all yet), and less about how Abyssea won't be fun after a few months, when you can easily get all you want from it by then, and have new content lined up probably before that. Just enjoy it for what it is while it's still relevant; as a transitional event, it's just fine. Not ideal, but nothing flawed enough to warrant the complaining that is so surprisingly common.

[miokomioko]

XI is thinking very short-term right now... but with reason. However, they are going to burn the game out real quick if they don't think of what to do about people hitting 90+ and having nothing to do but Magian Trials... which currently serve no purpose other than making big numbers appear on the screen.

[shaddix]

I personally find it a lot of fun making big numbers appear on the screen..... it doesn't bore me at all